Letters: Chargers, higher-ed salaries, Filner, Syria and more

I have read many negative stories over the last several months regarding the Chargers and am curious as to why you will not report when the organization does something positive? [Nov. 28] was a missed opportunity to do so.

At a gathering [Wednesday] morning, nine San Diego County schools were granted a total of $250,000 in support of health and fitness programs. Coverage by local media was extensive, and yet the U-T was not present and, to my knowledge, mentioned nothing about it.

Our school, Helix Charter High School, was one of the fortunate recipients and hosted the event. We applied for a $40,000 grant to upgrade our outdated fitness and weight room equipment that is used by our entire student body including physical education classes and all of our athletic teams. When the Chargers evaluated our request in a competitive grant process, they not only awarded our grant, but said we deserved more and awarded an additional $35,000. In my almost 30 years in public education, I have never before seen a grantee be awarded almost double what they requested. In all, the $75,000 grant will benefit our students for years to come.

According to the San Diego County Office of Education, the Chargers for years have given more financial support to local schools than any other business in San Diego. Win or lose, the Chargers are a huge asset to our community and this is a story that should be told.
– Dr. Mike Lewis, executive director, Helix Charter High School, La Mesa

Thursday, another U-T editorial bashing the pay of top college and university officials (“UC, CSU must be frugal to survive,” Nov. 29). I have yet to read an editorial questioning the pay of football and basketball coaches. I would love to see a chart listing each UC and CSU campus and a comparison of the salaries of the president, football coach and basketball coach at each institution. But I seriously doubt that the U-T is interested in providing that information to the public.
– Samuel M. Ciccati, La Mesa

It only takes a Democrat one term to screw up the mess it took a Republican to clean up in two terms. I still find myself in a daze that San Diegans somehow blindly elected a Democratic mayor to take over from unquestionably the finest mayor we’ve had since Pete Wilson in Mayor Jerry Sanders.

I read in the paper with horror that Filner is even considering bringing [Donna] Frye back into the political workings of San Diego government (“Mayor-elect Filner to have direct say in hiring of 253 city positions,” Nov. 29). The citizens should aggressively protest this move on his part, as Filner pursues a change to the municipal codes to which would somehow allow Frye to double dip into the pensions. Hopefully by the next election, we’ll have come to our senses and elect another Republican to clean it all up again.
– Gary C. Hardin, San Diego

In response to “U.S. weighs deeper Syria role (Nov. 29): Russia and China told the United States to stay out of Syria’s internal affairs. Why is the administration beating the war drum about Syria again? Syria has Russia, China and Iran backing it. The easiest place for the foregoing countries to test their weapon systems is in a war is over someone else’s territory.